Feb 8 REMODEL & ADDITION FOR THIS 1990's CUSTOM HOME

Meet Project Prime House! Its a 1990's custom home that is currently undergoing a large remodel and addition project that includes the following spaces:

Entry

Reading Room

Kitchen

Kitchen Nook

Laundry

Half-Bath

Living Room

Dining Room

About a year before I came onto the project the clients had added on space for a large kitchen and laundry room but hadn’t moved beyond that…the newly built space had set vacant with nothing more than studs, windows, exterior siding and roofing materials.

At my first site visit the place was humming with construction workers running electrical and starting the install of insulation. Even though progress was being made the newly added-on kitchen and laundry room design hadn’t really been finalized. Initially another designer had layed out both the kitchen and laundry floor plans but the locations of the plumbing and gas lines had been shifted some during construction. There was also some ambiguity about the door way leading from the existing portion of the house into the new space, as well as how best to use the former kitchen space as a dining room.

EXISTING FLOOR PLAN + ADDITION

KITCHEN BEFORE PHOTOS

LAUNDRY & POWDER ROOM

READING & LIVING ROOMS

DESIGN OBJECTIVES

With the clients and construction crew waiting patiently for design plans, I set to work on perfecting the kitchen and laundry room while also working on changes to the existing floor plan. My design objectives were:

Create architectural cohesion between the remodeled spaces and addition

Improve adjacencies and visual connection between the kitchen addition and the existing spaces, while still honoring the clients dislike of open floor plans

Establish visual balance between doorways, fireplace, etc. *Notice the lack of connection and architectural balance in the existing floor plan

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

Right away I knew that I needed to come up with a way that would visually connect the new dining room to the new kitchen and living room while still maintaining separation. The answer turned out to be interior windows! Fortunately I found some beautiful concept photos for inspiration. Here’s the concept board that I included in my initial design presentation to the clients.

KITCHEN & LAUNDRY ROOM ADDITION & CONCEPT PHOTOS

THE TAKE AWAY

Though it’s always best to have final design plans before you start a project, if needs be, don’t be afraid to halt construction until you can get it figured out! The goal is to have no regrets! And yes, yes, yes! A skilled designer will add tremendous value to your project. Get one on board ASAP.

WHAT'S NEXT

Check back soon to see how the spatial puzzles were solved...and how beautiful interior windows were incorporated into the design.